Edited By Marlene Tromp Maria K. Bachman Heidi Kaufman.

In this groundbreaking collection, scholars explore Victorian xenophobia as a rhetorical strategy that transforms “foreign” people, bodies, and objects into perceived invaders with the dangerous power to alter the social fabric of the nation and the identity of the English. Essays in the collected edition look across the cultural landscape of the nineteenth century to trace the myriad tensions that gave rise to fear and loathing of immigrants, aliens, and ethnic/racial/religious others. This volume introduces new ways of reading the fear and loathing of all that was foreign in nineteenth-century British culture, and, in doing so, it captures nuances that often fall beyond the scope of current theoretical models. “Xenophobia” not only offers a distinctive theoretical lens through which to read the nineteenth century; it also advances and enriches our understanding of other critical approaches to the study of difference. Bringing together scholarship from art history, history, literary studies, cultural studies, women’s studies, Jewish studies, and postcolonial studies, Fear, Loathing, and Victorian Xenophobia seeks to open a rich and provocative dialogue on the global dimensions of xenophobia during the nineteenth century.

Columbus, OH: Ohio State University Press, 2013. 390.

By Sharon Stockton.

In The Economics of Fantasy: Rape in Twentieth-Century Literature, Sharon Stockton examines the persistence and the evolution of the rape narrative in twentieth-century literature—the old story of male power and violence; female passivity and penetrability. What accounts for its persistence? How has the story changed over the course of the twentieth century? In this provocative book, Stockton investigates the manner in which the female body—or to be more precise, the violation of the female body—serves as a metaphor for a complex synthesis of masculinity and political economy. From high modernism to cyberpunk, Pound to Pynchon, Stockton argues that the compulsive return to the rape story, articulates—among other things—the gradual and relentless removal of Western man from the fantastical capitalist role of venturesome, industrious agency. The metamorphosis of the twentieth-century rape narrative registers a desperate attempt to preserve traditional patterns of robust, entrepreneurial masculinity in the face of economic forms that increasingly disallow illusions of individual authority. It is important to make clear that the genre of rape story studied here presumes a white masculine subject and a white feminine object. Stockton makes the case that the aestheticized rape narrative reveals particular things about the way white masculinity represents itself. Plotting violent sexual fantasy on the grid of economic concerns locates masculine agency in relation to an explicitly contingent material system of power, value, and order. It is in this way that The Economics of Fantasy discloses the increased desperation with which the body has been made to carry ideology under systems of advanced capitalism.

Columbus, OH: Ohio State University Press, 2006. 235p.

By Andrew Mangham.

“Bodies are very unstable things in Dickens. In addition to the various characters with parts that are missing or defunct, like Wackford Squeers, Silas Wegg, Mr Smallweed, Mrs Skewton, Captain Cuttle, and Mrs Clennam, we find bodies that are taken apart (like the mangled remains of Mr Carker and Rigauld) and (re)assembled (like Mrs Jarley’s waxworks or Mr Venus’s French Gentleman). We encounter living bodies without souls, like the prisoners in “A Visit to Newgate” (1836) and American Notes (1842), and souls like Little Nell and Oliver Twist whose bodies seem barely capable of holding them in. More gruesomely, Dickensian bodies have a tendency to turn into slime and ash, such as when Miss Havisham is burned in Great Expectations (1860–61), or when the inhabitants of a city churchyard threaten to sully the appropriated dress of Lady Dedlock.”

Columbus, OH: Ohio State University Press, 2016. 272p.

By Guy Morton.

We have few authors on our fiction list possessed with the same gift of analysis into human character and motive as Mr. Morton. Indeed, nothing pleases him more than to play one type of individual against another, and since their actions culminate, as a rule, in deeds of violence, the author is never lacking either in material or scope for his own peculiar abilities. When, therefore, Mr. Morton turns his attentions to a rather mixed gathering at The Briars, a pleasantly situated country-house, the reader is entitled to expect some starthng disclosures. Nor does he find himself disappointed. Two murders, each of great brutaHty, take place in rapid succession, and the perpetrator, obviously one who has little to learn either in the art of con- cealment or dissimulation, effectively side-tracks the poHce from the vital issues and appears to rest securely behind the cloak of their incompetence. But whoever committed the crime completely under-estimated the talents of the ever vigilant Amor Kairns, who finally brings the criminal to book in an extremely dramatic quick curtain.

London: Skeffington & Son, 1900. 288p.

By Theodore Dreiser.

Theodore Dreiser was inspired by a true story to write this novel about an ambitious, socially insecure young man who finds himself caught between two very different women--and two very different visions of what his life could be. Clyde Griffiths was born poor and is poorly educated, but his prospects begin to improve when he is offered a job by a wealthy uncle who owns a shirt factory. Soon he achieves a managerial position, and despite being warned to stay away from the women he manages, he becomes involved with Roberta, a poor factory worker who falls in love with him. At the same time, he catches the eye of Sondra, the glamorous socialite daughter of another factory owner, and begins neglecting his lover to court her. When Roberta confronts Clyde with her pregnancy, Clyde's hopes of marrying Sondra are threatened, and he conceives a desperate plan to preserve his dream.

New York: Modern Library, 1925. 860p.

By Arthur Conan Doyle.

It is impossible to read and weigh the facts in connection with the conviction of Oscar Slater in May, 1909, at the High Court in Edinburgh, without feeling deeply dissatisfied with the proceedings, and morally certain that justice was not done. Under the circumstances of Scotch law I am not clear how far any remedy exists, but it will, in my opinion, be a serious scandal if the man be allowed upon such evidence to spend his life in a convict prison. The verdict which led to his condemnation to death, was given by a jury of fifteen, who voted: Nine for "Guilty," five for "Non-proven," and one for "Not Guilty." Under English law, this division of opinion would naturally have given cause for a new trial.

New York: Hodder & Stoughton, George H. Doran, 1912. 102p.

By William Johnston and Paul West.

In every detail so far this day was a duplicate of almost every previous day in Josiah Hopkins' life since he had first come to Gray don as instructor in chemistry. But the deadly sameness ceased then and there, marking the eighteenth of May as a day long to be remembered in the history of the little college.

Toronto: McLeod & Allen, 1910. 344p.

By Alan Pinkerton.

I desire to again call attention to the fact that the stories herein contained, as in the case of their predecessors in the series, are literally true. The incidents in these cases have all actually occurred as related, and there are now living many witnesses to corroborate my statements. Maroney, the expressman, is living in Georgia, having been released during the war. Mrs. Maroney is also alive. Anyone desiring to convince himself of the absolute truthfulness of this narrative can do so by examining the court records in Montgomery, Ala., where Maroney was convicted. The facts stated in the second volume are well known to many residents of Chicago. Young Bright was in the best society during his stay at the Clifton House, and many of his friends will remember him. His father is now largely interested in business in New York, Chicago, and St. Louis. The events connected with the abduction of " The Two Sisters," will be readily recalled by W. L. Church, Esq., of Chicago, and others. The story of " Alexander Gay," the Frenchman, will be found in 2047318 6 PREFA CE. the criminal records of St. Louis, where he was sentenced for forgery.

New York: G. W. Dillingham Co., 1903. 256p.

By Fyodor Dostoevsky.

Or The Devils. Translated From The Russian By Constance Garnett. “Inspired by the true story of a political murder that horried Russians in 1869, Fyodor Dostoevsky conceived of Demons as a "novel-pamphlet" in which he would say everything about the plague of materialist ideology that he saw infecting his native land. What emerged was a prophetic and ferociously funny masterpiece of ideology and murder in pre-revolutionary Russia.” 1872 (Russian)

A Read-Me.Org classic reprint. 1916 (English). 718p.

By Fyodor Dostoevsky.

This was his last novel, published as a serial in The Russian Messenger from January 1879 to November 1880. Dostoevsky died less than four months after its publication. Set in 19th-century Russia, this book is a passionate philosophical novel that enters deeply into questions of God, free will, and morality. It is a theological drama dealing with problems of faith, doubt, and reason in the context of a modernizing Russia, with a plot that revolves around the subject of patricide.

NY. Lowell Press. 1880. 600p.

By Fyodor Dostoyevsky.

A timeless story of love and violence, the rationalized triumph of passion over reason, of self deception over care, envy and hatred of authority and class, and of course, much, much more in this dense novel.

NY. Parkway Printing (1886) 600p.

By Robert Louis Stevenson.

Set in the backdrop later Victorian London, this book can be told as belonging to the category of science fiction, psychological thriller and suspense thriller. Dr Jekyll, a famous and notable scientist seems to be somehow linked with Mr Hyde, a most-wanted criminal. Mr Utterson, a good renown lawyer of the period as well as Jekyll's good friend, tries connecting the dots to find out the truth, a most-shocking truth.

London: Longmans, Green, 1886. 141p.

By Wilkie Collins.

The loss of the diamond opens the beginning of this adventure and events as related by Gabriel Betteredge, house-steward in the service of Julia, Lady Verinder. “ The Moonstone is a 19th-century British epistolary novel. It is an early modern example of the detective novel, and established many of the ground rules of the modern genre. Told from the perspective of 11different characters, tale of mystery and suspicion was considered the first modern English detective novel at its time of publication.” (Amazon).

NY. Harrow and Heston Classic Reprint. (1868) 510 pages.

By Victor Hugo.

Testimony of an eyewitness. History of a Crime is a novel based on actual events surrounding the assumption of power of Napoleon III following the 1848 revolution. Hugo's narrative takes in the four days during which Napoleon enacted a coup d'etat through which he assumed the Presidency and concludes with an exposition of the Franco-German War in 1970 which resulted in Napoleon's downfall. The narrative is written from the perspective of Hugo himself who was briefly involved in the before exiling himself to Belgium and thence to the Chanel Islands and while the novel is clearly dramatized, it does well to invoke the drama of the times and provides a sense of the times on behind the barricades.

NY. Harrow and Heston Classic Reprint. (1877) 515 pages.

By Sir Walter Scott.

“Edinburgh, 1736: an indignant crowd has gathered in the Grassmarket to watch the execution of a smuggler...” Opening with the start of the Porteous Riots, The Heart of Midlothian is one of Walter Scott's most famous historical novels, featuring murder, madness and seduction. Following his brutal suppression of the spectators, John Porteous, Captain of the Guard, is charged with murder and locked up in Edinburgh's Tolbooth prison, also known as the Heart of Midlothian. When news comes that he has been pardoned, an angry mob breaks into the jail, liberating its inmates and bringing Porteous to its own form of justice. But one prisoner who fails to take this opportunity to flee is Effie Deans, who, wrongly convicted of infanticide, has been sentenced to death. Jeanie, her older sister, sets off to London on foot to beg for her pardon from the queen.

Boston: Dana Estes & Co., 1893.

By Oliver Goldsmith.

“When Dr Primrose loses his fortune in a disastrous investment, his idyllic life in the country is shattered and he is forced to move with his wife and six children to an impoverished living on the estate of Squire Thornhill. Taking to the road in pursuit of his daughter, who has been seduced by the rakish Squire, the beleaguered Primrose becomes embroiled in a series of misadventures–encountering his long-lost son in a travelling theatre company and even spending time in a debtor’s prison. Yet Primrose, though hampered by his unworldliness and pride, is sustained by his unwavering religious faith. In The Vicar of Wakefield, Goldsmith gently mocks many of the literary conventions of his day–from pastoral and romance to the picaresque – infusing his story of a hapless clergyman with warm humour and amiable social satire.”

J.C. Krieger and Company, 1828 300p.

By R.D. Blackmore.

“This work is called a 'romance,' because the incidents, characters, time, and scenery, are alike romantic. And in shaping this old tale, the Writer neither dares, nor desires, to claim for it the dignity or cumber it with the difficulty of an historic novel….Every woman clutched her child, and every man turned pale at the very name of "Doone" ….John Ridd, an unsophisticated farmer, falls in love with the beautiful and aristocratic Lorna Doone, kidnapped as a child by the outlaw Doones on Exmoor. Ridd's rivalry with the villainous Carver Doone reaches a dramatic climax that will determine Lorna's future happiness.”

New York: Harper & Brothers, 1878. 280p.

By Charles Reade.

‘Hard Cash like ‘The Cloister and the Hearth' is a matter-of-fact Romance—that is, a fiction built on truths ; and these truths have been gathered by long, severe, systematic labour, from a multitude of volumes, pamphlets, journals, reports, blue-books, manuscript narratives, letters, and living people, whom I have sought out, examined, and cross-examined, to get at the truth on each main topic I have striven to handle. The madhouse scenes have been picked out by certain disinterested gentlemen, who keep private asylums, and periodicals to puff them ; and have been met with bold denials of public facts, and with timid personalities, and a little easy cant about Sensation * Novelists ; but in reality those passages have been written on the same system as the nautical, legal, and other scenes : the best evidence has been ransacked ; and a large portion of this evidence I shall be happy to show at my house to any brother writer who is disinterested, and really cares enough for truth and humanity to walk or ride a mile in pursuit of them.” (From Preface)

London: Chatto and Windus, 1899. 625p.

By Honoré de Balzac.

“The Wild Ass's Skin is Honoré de Balzac's 1831 novel that tells the story of a young man, Raphaël de Valentin, who discovers a piece of shagreen, in this case a rough untanned piece of a wild ass's skin, which has the magical property of granting wishes. However the fulfillment of the wisher's desire comes at a cost, after each wish the skin shrinks a little bit and consumes the physical energy of the wisher. "The Wild Ass's Skin" is at once both a work of incredible realism, in the descriptions of Parisian life and culture at the time, and also a work of supernatural fantasy, in the desires that are fulfilled by the wild ass's skin. Balzac uses this fantastical device masterfully to depict the complexity of the human nature in civilized society.”

Philadelphia: Gebbie Publishing, 1897, 324p.

By Charles Dickens.

“The sensational bestselling story of Little Nell, the beautiful child thrown into a shadowy, terrifying world, seems to belong less to the history of the Victorian novel than to folklore, fairy tale, or myth. The sorrows of Nell and her grandfather are offset by Dickens's creation of a dazzling contemporary world inhabited by some of his most brilliantly drawn characters—the eloquent ne'er-do-well Dick Swiveller; the hungry maid known as the "Marchioness"; the mannish lawyer Sally Brass; Quilp's brow-beaten mother-in-law; and Quilp himself, the lustful, vengeful dwarf, whose demonic energy makes a vivid counterpoint to Nell's purity.”

London: Chapman and Hall, 1840. 460p.